Atlanta (Talladega)

Up early after a pretty crappy night at the hotel. We decided we'd stop in at a couple of Chattanooga sights before heading off, conscious of the fact we had to have the car in by 3pm).
First stop was Ruby Falls - a cave system deep in Lookout Mountain. Two men 're-discovered' the cave system and discovered the falls in 1929 and quickly made it into a popular tourist site that has been running ever since. The falls themselves are 145 feet and lay 1120 feet below sea level. To get to them is a short elevator trip into the mountain and then a wander through the cave system.
Our tour guide was an absolute crack-up. Doug had a heavy southern drawl and admitted that he was "not a learned man." As we all got off the elevator he asked each group where they were from and for the rest of the tour all you would hear would be "You right back there West Texas?", "Rapid City, you know you don't wanna miss this." and "Yo, Victoria Australia, make sure the kiddos see this."
It was about half way through the tour that I realised who Doug reminded me of when he

spoke thanks to a well-timed 'dang it!' and an 'anywho'. Much to Craig's embarrassment (eye-roll and all) I got the giggles because when Doug spoke all I could imagine was Mater from Cars. Exact same southern drawl. I loved it. Definitely the best tour guide we've had so far.
Ruby Falls themselves were stunning. The "joys" of modern technology - you enter the chamber and can hear the water but can't see it due to the dim lighting. Doug pushed a button and with that the falls are lit up with slowly changing coloured lights all set to soft background music. It was really beautiful though.
After the falls we headed further up the mountain to make a round trip on the Incline Railway - steepest passenger tram tracks in the world. (they claim)
Quick bite to eat and then in the car and onto Atlanta for our Talladega weekend - boys are rather excited.